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Raids carried out across India over tax evasion probe
Over 110 locations belonging to businessmen, lawyers, private individuals, unrecognized political parties were being searched in a coordinated action by IT sleuths.
The income tax department on Wednesday carried out raids across the country as part of a nationwide tax evasion probe against registered unrecognized political parties (RUPPs) and allegedly bogus donations received by them, people familiar with the development said.
Over 110 locations belonging to businessmen, lawyers, private individuals, unrecognized political parties, etc across Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and few other states were being searched in a coordinated action by IT sleuths, said one of the persons mentioned above, requesting anonymity.
According to official data, there are nearly 2,800 RUPPs in India. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been pushing the government to allow it to de-register political parties.
Officials familiar with the matter said Wednesday’s raids were launched against certain RUPPs, their promoters and linked entities to probe their sources of income as well as the expenditure. Instances of political funding through allegedly illegal means are under investigation as part of the probe, they said.
An agency official said the action has been taken based on a recent recommendation by the ECI, which, in June this year, struck off at least 198 entities from its list of RUPPs after they were found non-existent during physical verification.
At the time, the poll panel had announced that it was initiating action against more than 2,100 entities, categorised as RUPPs, for flouting rules and election laws, including violations related to filing of monetary contributions and failing to update contact details of office bearers. The commission had also alleged that some of these entities were indulging in serious financial impropriety.
According to the poll panel, it had acted after chief electoral officers (CEOs) of states reported that these RUPPs either were “non-existent” on verification or the letters issued by authorities to verify their addresses and communication details had been returned as undelivered by the department of posts.
Subsequently, the EC decided to withdraw various benefits accorded to these parties under the Symbols Order (1968), including allocation of common election symbol.
In a statement issued in June, the ED said any RUPP aggrieved by the decision can approach the CEO concerned within 30 days along with all evidence of existence, year-wise annual audited accounts, contribution reports, expenditure reports and updated list of office-bearers.
Specific details of various parties, available publicly, that flouted laws and rules on disclosure of funds and donations were available and investigation is on, said a second officer familiar with the matter.
According to the official, the EC had sent a reference to the Department of Revenue (DoR), under the Union finance ministry, for necessary legal and criminal action against at least three such RUPPs involved in serious financial impropriety. The DoR then forwarded the report to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the administrative body of the tax department.
The second officer mentioned above said various such parties across India have been availing tax relief without properly sharing their audit and contribution reports.
Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar spearheaded the clean-up drive against such political entities. During his earlier posting as the financial services secretary, Kumar had taken the decision to ask banks to flag shell companies deregistered by the Registrar of Companies (RoC) and take appropriate action.
